Download Factors leading to WWI

Factors leading to WWI:
Militarism – Glorifying power and keeping
an army prepared for war was the goal of
several European nations.
 Alliances – Post Napoleonic fears
 Triple Alliance: Germany, AustriaHungary, Italy
 Triple Entente: England, France, Russia
 Imperialism – Political and Economic
control over foreign territory.
 Nationalism – Feeling of strong pride for
one’s country.
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The Trigger of War:
Spring 1914
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary
assassinated by a Serbian national. The young
country of Serbia had been promised protection by
Russia.
Austria-Hungary was promised German support in
a war on Serbia (Kaiser Wilhelm’s blank check),
and Russia readied to defend it’s ally.
War was declared by Austria-Hungary on Serbia
on July 28th, 1914
The Archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his wife,
boarding the car in which
they would be assassinated.
The bodies of the Archduke and his wife lay in
state.
European Nations take sides:
Summer 1914
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War is declared by everyone. By August 1914,
sides were taken in the first World War
The Central Powers – Germany, AustriaHungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (Italy
decided not to fight with it’s allies)
The Allied Powers – Great Britain, France,
Russia, (Japan, Italy, United States, Belgium, and
Serbia would join later)
The Allied powers (blue) surround
The Central powers (red),
illustrating the two front
war that would
have to be
fought.
Fighting a World War
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Many thought it would be a short war, no
preparation was taken for winter.
The Central Powers tried to move quickly, but
were pushed back by the Allies outside of Paris.
 The Schliefflen Plan
Russians pushed on Germany and AustriaHungary from the east.
The Central Powers found themselves fighting a
“two-front” war, a Western Front and an Eastern
Front
New Techniques of Warfare
New weapons such as the machine gun,
poison gas, and the tank made this war
look like no other.
 Trenches were dug to protect soldiers from
these terrible new weapons.
 A No man’s land was created between
trenches of enemy countries. Little land
was won or lost during this trench warfare.
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Clockwise from upper left: German zeppelin, French soldier fitting gas
mask, German tank, water cooled machine gun, English field gun shell
The United States gets closer to
entering the war
America’s neutrality
 Assisting the allied war effort
 propaganda
 War on the seas
 U-boats
 Unrestricted submarine warfare
 Lusitania
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German propaganda showing the sinking of the Lusitania
The Last Straw
The Zimmerman telegram was intercepted
by Great Britain on it’s way from Germany
to Mexico.
 A promise to Mexico
 Americans were outraged. The U.S.
declared war on Germany and it’s allies on
April 2nd, 1917.
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A Short Road Lies Ahead
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U.S. joins the Allies - 1917
Russia pulls out
 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Kaiser steps down
The Armistice to end World War I was signed on
November 11th, 1918.
 Railway car outside of Paris
 The Big Four meet
America's Woodrow Wilson, Vittorio Orlando
of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of France, and
David Lloyd George of Great Britain: The
Big Four
Wilson’s pitch to Congress
President Wilson had a plan for post-war
Europe called the Fourteen Points. Five
main ideas were central to the plan working.
 1) Self-Determination
 2) A fair peace
 3) Disarmament
 4) Fair treatment of colonies
 5) A League of Nations
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The Treaty of Versailles
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Britain and France didn’t like the U.S. plan,
and The Treaty of Versailles was adopted
instead.
 War Guilt Clause
 Reparations – $33 Billion
 League of Nations – No Germany, USA
 Colonies given to France, Britain
 German land to Poland, France, Czech.
The Legacy of the War
10 million dead. 21 million wounded.
 The war cost $338 billion.
 Germany was humiliated
 Japan & Italy felt cheated (entered war to
get European colonies in Asia & Africa)….
would we ever hear from them again?
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